South Korea Population, Main Cities and Geography

By | January 27, 2023

South Korea: population, cities

Population

According to Countryaah website, at the end of 2010 there were around 50 million residents in the Republic of Korea.

Ethnic composition

Koreans and around 20,000 Chinese live in South Korea.

Religious

affiliation In South Korea live mainly Christians (especially Protestants), there are also followers of Buddhism, Confucianism and shamanism.

National languages

The national language of South Korea is Korean.

Capital, other cities

The capital of South Korea is Seoul with around 10.5 million residents. According to Abbreviation Finder, SKR stands for South Korea in English. Click to see other meanings of this 3-letter acronym.

Other cities are:

  • Pusan with around 3.8 million residents
  • Taegu with around 2.7 million residents
  • Inchon with around 2.3 million residents
  • Kwangju with around 1.2 million residents
  • Taejeon with around 1.2 million residents

South Korea: geography, map

South Korea occupies the southern part of the Korean peninsula. Check topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of South Korea.

This is located at the eastern end of the Asian continent between China and Japan.

It extends around 1,000 km in a southerly direction and is 216 km wide at its narrowest point. Korea is one of the most mountainous areas in the world, around 70% of the country is covered by mountains. South Korea is divided into nine provinces, the capital Seoul and the cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon and Ulsan.

Area and land use

South Korea covers an area of 99,600 km².

Thereof:

  • ForestAround two thirds of South Korea is covered with forest.
  • Arable land and fields17% of the land is used as a landscape. Preferred agricultural crops are rice, vegetables, fruits and cereals.
  • Mountains70% of the area of South Korea is covered by mountains. The Sobaek and Taebaek Mountains are the largest mountain ranges in the country. Three smaller mountain ranges are the Gwangju, the Charyeong and the Noryang Mountains.

National border, length of coast

South Korea has a border with North Korea of a length of 238 km and a sea coast with a length of around 2,413 km.

Longitude and latitude

South Korea extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):

Δφ = from 33 ° to 38 ° north latitude Δλ = from 126 ° to 132 ° east longitude

You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.

Legal time

In South Korea, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time (without summer time) in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A minus sign means that it is earlier there and a plus sign that it is later than after CET:

Δt (CET) = + 8 h

Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.

Highest sun in Seoul

Seoul lies at a north latitude of around φ = 37.5 °.

If the sun is at the tropic, i.e. at δ = 23.5 °, summer will start in Seoul on June 21. Then, for the highest position of the sun at noon, according to Eq. 1 (see position of the sun):

37.5 ° = (90 ° – h) + 23.5 °

so:

H = 76 °

This is the highest level above the horizon (exactly: above the chimney) that the sun occupies within the year in Seoul.

mountains

The highest mountain is Halla-san with a height of 1,950 m. It is located on Jeju-do Island.

Other high mountains are:

  • Jiri with a height of 1,915 m
  • Seorak with a height of 1,708 m
  • Kyebang with a height of 1,577 m
  • Hambaek with a height of 1,573 m

Rivers

The longest river in Korea is the Naktong River with a length of around 525 km.

Other rivers in the country are:

  • Han with a length of 482 km
  • Geum with a length of 396 km

Lakes

The largest lake in South Korea is Soyang Lake – a dam with a length of approx. 70 km, an area of around 70 km² and a water volume of 2.9 billion m³. The local power plant generates an average of around 355 million kilowatt hours (kWh) per year.

Islands

There are numerous islands and peninsulas in front of the country. The biggest are:

  • Jeju do with an area of approx. 1,845 km²
  • Ganghwa has an area of approximately 302.4 km²
  • Ulleung has an area of approximately 73.15 km²

Yellow Sea, Sea of Japan, Korea Strait

Yellow Sea

The Yellow Sea borders China to the north and west and North and South Korea to the east. In the south it merges into the East China Sea. Its deepest point is around 110 m. It takes its name from the yellow alluvial sand that the Yellow River (Huáng Hé ) and other smaller rivers in particular wash into the Yellow Sea. The Yellow Sea covers an area of around km². At its widest point between China and South Korea, the sea is around 630 km wide, and between China and North Korea around 665 km. Its narrowest point is around 195 km between China and North Korea. A detailed description of the Yellow Sea can be found here >>>

Sea of Japan The Sea of

Japan lies between the Japanese islands and the mainland (China, Korea, and Russia). It covers an area of 1,048,950 km² – with a maximum Tife of 3,745 m. In addition to Japan, there are also China, Russia and South and North Korea on the Sea of Japan.

The connections to the Pacific are the Korea Strait in the south, the Tsugaru Strait between Honshu and Hokkaido (Japan) and the La Pérouse Strait between the islands of Hokkaido (Japan) and Sakhalin (Russia).

A detailed description of the Japanese Sea can be found here >>>

Korea Strait

The Korea Strait is a strait about 300 km long and about 165 km wide from southwest to northeast between the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan. It is bordered to the north by South Korea and to the south by the Japanese islands of Kyushu and the southwest tip of Honshū. The strait has a depth of around 90 m. In the middle of the narrowness are the Tsushima Islands, which belong to Japan. The southeastern part of Korea Street is also known as Tsushima Street.

South Korea Population